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Mennonite Central Committee received $25 million in gifts and grants to help those affected by the December 26, 2004 tsunami. MCC’s final report to donors about these funds lists, among other projects: 1,183 houses, 9 road systems, 8 children’s parks, and 78,000 participants in trauma healing support groups in India; 44,288 relief kits, 200 prostheses, health and hygiene education to 13 elementary schools in Indonesia; 100 jobs and 1 nursery/community care centre in Sri Lanka; and 21 fishing boats repaired in Somalia.

mcc.org/tsunami
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Christians for Biblical Equality, an evangelical organization providing biblical resources on the shared authority and service of men and women, will host a conference in St. Louis, Mo., July 24–25, to examine the forces that shape gender and ministry. Biblical scholars, Christian anthropologists, and church leaders will address questions such as “are gender differences God-given, shaped by culture, or biologically determined?”

cbeinternational.org
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Christians in India’s Orissa state regard the outcome of April and May general elections as an answer to prayer, according to Bijoy K. Roul, South Asia administrator for the Brethren in Christ Church. The elections gave more national parliamentary seats to India’s governing secular Congress Party, fewer to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party which is associated with Hindu nationalism. Many Christians blame radical Hindu groups for inciting widespread violent attacks on Orissa’s Christian minority in August 2008, reported in January’s Herald.

—MCC
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Just before camping season started in earnest, B.C.’s camp ministries unveiled a new website, www.campsbc.com, to serve as a portal to the provincial MB conference’s 5 camps, highlighting ministry vision, donor opportunities, stories, and staffing needs. Designed by Nate Woods of Vintage 242, Abbotsford, B.C., the website showcases each camp with pictures taken on location, information, activities, and registration process.

—Barrie MacMaster
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Want to go solar? Mennonite Central Committee Ontario has developed Mennonite Initiative for Solar Energy (MISE) as a solar bulk-buy program for its constituents, from March to November 2009. It lets interested homeowners and churches join together to purchase solar energy, thus creating bargaining power for cheaper prices, and a streamlined process for those with less technical knowledge but a desire to act on climate change.

—Creation Care Crossroads
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Lithuania Christian College launched its first graduate degree program in June. The masters level TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program was approved by the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and hailed as “the first of its kind in the country.” The school, which grew out of summer intensive English language instruction programs, also announced the appointment of Kyle Usrey, currently dean of Friends University in Kansas, as president, beginning August 2009.

—ICOMB newsletter
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The University of B.C. department of surgery has announced the establishment of the Henry D. Hildebrand award for excellence, a cash award given annually to a promising junior resident. The late Dr. Hildebrand, originally from Niverville, Man., was a pioneer in vascular surgery, who besides having a medical practice and teaching, served in Congo, Central America, Kazaghstan, and Kenya. Hildebrand was a member of Point Grey Inter-Mennonite Fellowship, Vancouver.

—The Surgical Times
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Mennonite Central Committee B.C.’s Youth Keep Working program will receive continued funding from the government of Canada, Abbotsford MP Ed Fast announced May 29. The program provides 7 weeks of life and employability skills training, guided work experience, and a 6-week community project. “If you look at photos of me before the program and after – there’s no comparison,” says Rachel Elen, a program graduate preparing to start her own business. “It almost feels like you’re not learning because it’s so much fun.”

—MCC
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An explosion in Nepal’s largest Catholic church, Assumption Church in Kathmandu valley’s Lalipur district, killed 2 and injured 14 of nearly 400 worshippers May 23. Deepa Patrick, one of the deceased, from neighbouring India, was on the last day of her honeymoon. Hindu nationalism organization, the Nepal Defense Army, took credit for the bombing and sent an ultimatum to Nepalese media organizations giving “Nepal’s 1 million Christians a month’s time to stop their activities and leave the country.”

—Compass Direct
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Outspoken South African Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu expressed support for gay ministers in a speech to the Church of Scotland’s general assembly in Edinburgh at the end of May. Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his fight against apartheid, drew parallels between the two situations, saying, “I would find it impossible to stand by when people are being persecuted for something about which they can do nothing – their sexual orientation.”

Holy Post blog

1 comment

Richard Peachey December 18, 2013 - 17:53

Happily, Desmond Tutu is in the minority among church leaders of African descent. African evangelicals are leading the way, and are challenging Europeans and North Americans to hold more firmly to Scriptural teaching on sexual morality. No matter how many Nobel prize-winners may say otherwise, same-sex sexual behaviour is clearly anti-Biblical.

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